Clinical Advantages of Critical Diagnostics' Cardiac Biomarker ST2 Featured In YouTube Video

Clinical Advantages of Critical Diagnostics' Cardiac Biomarker ST2 Featured In YouTube Video

Study shows ST2 combined with troponin to be superior to Roche's NT-proBNP for risk stratification of heart failure patients

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Critical Diagnostics, makers of the Presage® ST2 Assay, announced today that a six-minute videotape by Antoni Bayes-Genis, MD PhD., head of Cardiology Service at Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, in Barcelona Spain discussing results of a study just completed on the use of biomarkers over conventional clinical assessments for risk stratification of heart failure patients has been posted on YouTube for immediate viewing. To watch the video, please go to: http://youtu.be/VySAOdOQyxk

The study followed 876 heart failure patients with a mean age of 70.3 years for a period of 40 months. During this follow up period, 311 patients died. Researchers compared 11 clinical variables, including age, sex, ischemic etiology of heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association functional class, diabetes, renal function, beta blocker treatment, ace inhibitor treatment, sodium and hemoglobin biomarkers, which are routinely used to stratify heart failure risk against three biomarkers: NT-proBNP from Roche (OTC: RHHBY), high-sensitivity troponin T and Critical Diagnostics' ST2.

The results from this recent study highlights the enduring clinical utility of ST2 despite being combined with the established and widely accepted cardiac biomarkers, like NTpro BNP, in medical practice. "The best results were obtained for ST2 and high-sensitivity troponin T," notes Dr. Bayes-Genis, the primary investigator of the study. "Whenever we added NT-proBNP to these other two biomarkers, net reclassification improvement was reduced."

"We are seeing strong adoption of ST2 by leading cardiologists who understand many of the limitations of utilizing natriuretic peptide markers like BNP and NT-proBNP in their practice," states David Geliebter, CEO of Critical Diagnostics. "Natriuretic peptide markers certainly have their role in diagnosing heart failure, but fall short in guiding treatment of diseased patients. In study after study, ST2 has consistently demonstrated improved accuracy of patient prognosis over natriuretic peptide markers alone.

"Two of the biggest criticisms we hear about natriuretic peptide markers are that their levels don't change or change too slowly, so their value as a serial marker for guiding treatment is questionable and, furthermore, that results are often skewed by other influencers such as age, gender, body mass index, atrial fibrillation, history of heart failure, anemia and impaired renal failure. By comparison, ST2 levels change rapidly in response to changes in the patient's condition—sometimes within hours—thus helping physicians make informed decisions on an appropriate course of action to take and, if needed, to quickly adjust care, such as titrating medication. Moreover, unlike natriuretic peptide markers, ST2 levels are not adversely affected by the above-mentioned confounding factors."

"Heart failure has become a growing public epidemic, with increasing incidence and prevalence," Dr. Bayes-Genis stresses. "As a result, there is a need to understand risk factors and risk stratifiers, to better identify the patients that are going to have a better or a worse outcome. We now have a new generation of biomarkers, high-sensitivity troponin T and ST2, which are easily measurable in our routine practice, which provide additional information to stratify the prognosis of patients with heart failure."

Link to abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23384388

About ST2

Soluble ST2 has now been published in more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and scientific posters studying more than 35,000 patients. These clinical studies have demonstrated that high levels of soluble ST2 are predictive of adverse patient outcomes and death in a broad spectrum of cardiovascular disease. They have further shown that the prognostic information from soluble ST2 is independent of, and provides added information to, that of cardiac biomarkers commonly used today. The Presage ST2 Assay has been CE Marked and cleared by the US FDA.

About Critical Diagnostics

Critical Diagnostics (www.criticaldiagnostics.com) develops novel biomarkers to help physicians optimize patient care in cardiovascular diseases, while containing healthcare costs.

Critical Diagnostics
Dennis Dalangin, VP Marketing
877-700-1250
ddalangin@criticaldiagnostics.com

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